नवीनतम
Bihar set to become 1st state with 100% webcasting in Assembly polls
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is fully prepared to roll out webcasting in all polling stations in the forthcoming Assembly polls in Bihar, in a bid to ensure close monitoring of the conduct of the polls.
Bihar will be the first state in the country that will witness 100 percent webcasting in an Assembly polls in the wake of the revised guidelines issued by the poll panel on webcasting. Earlier, webcasting was mandatory in 50 per cent of the polling stations besides critical polling booths.
In its revised guidelines on webcasting issued to the Chief Electoral Officers of all States and Union Territories in June, the ECI had informed that webcasting shall be conducted in all polling stations (100 percent of polling stations) that have internet connectivity. However, in areas lacking internet access, videography and photography may be permitted.
The polling panel stated that there will be a webcasting monitoring control room setup at the state level, district level, and assembly constituency level, which will be overseen and monitored by a nodal officer designated at each level.
Webcasting refers to the live streaming of events occurring within the polling station while ensuring the confidentiality of the voting process is maintained. According to the guidelines laid down prior to this, it was implemented in at least 50 percent of all polling stations, including all critical polling stations and those identified as vulnerable.
The addition of 12,817 new polling stations has raised the total number of polling stations in Bihar to 90,712, up from the previous count of 77,895. Webcasting will be done at all the polling stations located throughout the state.
Notably, after the issuance of the new guidelines for webcasting, it was done in 100 per cent polling stations in the Assembly bye-elections in several states including Punjab and West Bengal.
The webcasting was monitored to ensure that there was no violation of the poll process. The successful implementation has paved the way for complete roll out of this initiative in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls.
Sources in the ECI on Monday told news agency, "Webcasting will be done in all polling stations in the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar. This will be the first state in the country where there will be 100 percent webcasting in all polling stations."
They said that the webcasting will be done in all the polling stations as per the revised guidelines on webcasting issued by the poll panel. Referring to the previous guidelines on webcasting, the poll panel sources said,
"In the past, webcasting was mandated at 50 percent of all polling stations, along with the critical polling booths. According to the revised guidelines, webcasting is now compulsory at every polling station, with the exception of areas without internet access, where videography will be done."
The tenure of the Bihar Assembly is scheduled to end on November 22. A delegation of the poll panel will be on a two-day visit to Bihar starting from October 4.
It is likely the ECI will announce the schedule for the Assembly elections after the visit of its delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
